Norfolk Southern Corp. has loaded a record coal cargo at its Pier 6 coal transloading facility at Lamberts Point in Norfolk.
On Jan. 12, the railroad company finished loading 159,941.45 net tons (145,097.931 metric tons) of metallurgical coal into the 951-foot vessel M/V Cape Dover, which is headed for China. That quantity of coal can be used to make about 207,000 tons of steel, enough to build 230,000 automobiles.
The coal was shipped in 1,561 railroad coal cars from Virginia coal mines by Xcoal Energy & Resources in conjunction with CONSOL Energy.
The loading of the M/V Cape Dover eclipsed the former record of 157,645 net tons for the M/V Irongate in 1998 as well as the 155,522 net tons into the M/V Cape Provence in December 2010.
Norfolk Southern has been transferring coal and coke from railroad cars into ocean-going and domestic vessels in the Lamberts Point area since 1884, when it opened Pier 1. Pier 6 opened in 1962.
Most of the coal moving through Pier 6 originates in Southwest Virginia, Southern West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
There are no comments for this entry